Duncan Gets Spooked
by Thatkidwiththeafro
Summary: When the Skarloey Railway strikes a deal that will pull them out of their economic slump, the engines are assigned to help prepare it for the new owners. Duncan believes that the story about the Old Iron Bridge running above Cattle Creak is nothing more than an old tale made up to scare young engines, but he ends up getting the spook of his life.
1. Chapter 1

The Skarloey Railway of the Great Depression wasn't the only railway serving the local valleys, lakes, and villages. Another much smaller railway that was restricted to the local slate quarry near the village of Skarloey. Due to the workload of both Skarloey and Rheneas, the other railway kept its own personal engine.

The line had suffered in recent times, primarily due to the value of slate having fallen after the end of World War I. Men often were out of work, and as time went on, this small railway had started to fall apart, mainly on the tracks themselves. Due to the even lower finances of the global Great Depression, there was barely any money to even repair their own engine.

The engine in question had no name, and was said to be a poorly looking engine. She only appeared when delivering slate trucks to either Skarloey or Rheneas' trains, and after shunting, would travel over towards what was known as the Old Iron Bridge.

The bridge had originally been made of wood, but after the boom of slate, it had been changed into a stronger iron bridge. The bridge was a splendid one, with the views of the valley providing a lovely view. Below it was a different story, for below this picturesque view was Cattle Creek.

The creek was known for having a bit of a swampy marsh below the bridge, and flooding was very common in this part. So much was the flooding, that no towns were built near this part of the creek in order to prevent loss of life.

By the Great Depression, this bridge had been in poor condition. Many of the railings became rusted and had fallen off into the abyss of the creek below. Several scrap merchants looking to make a quick buck, had figured that the railway was shut down, and that anything on the line was theirs for the taking.

They snuck in and pinched the pieces of metal and wood. They were about to finish the deed when a whistle was heard in the distance.

"What was that?" cried one.

"Don't worry about it, this railway has been gone for a LONG time now! No one uses it!"

The whistle echoed louder.

"Maybe not... Hide!"

The two men ran to the other side of the bridge and hid in some bushes.

Sure enough, the engine appeared, pushing her cargo for her last delivery of the evening. The engine, pushing her train, wasn't able to see that the bridge and the tracks were damaged. A snag was hit, and the railings that were to prevent such accidents were missing. Combined with the amount of slate in the trucks, it was impossible to get out of their situation.

A whistle crying for help by the crew was blasted, but the two men responsible were frozen in fear of being caught for their deeds, and didn't move a muscle.

The slate trucks pulled the engine off quickly, with no chance of escape for her or her crew. The trucks dragged on until they pulled the entire train off the bridge. The engine and her crew screamed in agony before falling helplessly into Cattle Creak below.

"Help! Can anyone hear us! Help! Please, anyone! Help us! Anybody!" cried the crew. The engine had already sunk in due to her weight, and was no more.

The crew had survived the fall miraculously, but they were too far from any signs of others to be saved, and eventually their lives were claimed by the marsh, which flooded a few days later, leaving the men's bodies, and the remains of the train lost to the marsh.

When it was realized that the company's only engine and her crew were missing, it was decided that the marsh had been too flooded to perform a proper rescue, and with no reason to continue on, the quarry was eventually abandoned by its owners.

The two men in question were feeling mighty guilty of their own actions, one being so horrified that he turned his life over to the Church and had became a Vicar in Crovan's Gate. He claimed that he had turned his life over to Jesus Christ, but still had nightmares about how his greed caused the loss of two innocent lives.

The other man eventually went mad with insanity, something of which he tried to compensate with alcohol. This drunkenness mixed with his insanity caused him to jump off of the Old Iron Bridge, leaving him to the same fate of the men that he caused the death of.

The Vicar eventually died himself, also in the same location. He had come to visit the remains of the bridge, and during the evening while reflecting, caught the sight of the same engine that he had caused the death of. The engine and her crew stared coldly at him with a piercing glare of flashing red eyes, and a whistle fit to burst. Horrified by such a sight, his heart gave out, and forgetting where he was, tripped, and finally tumbled to his death in the swampy marsh below.

The engine and her crew disappeared afterwards, and the people of Crovan's Gate were never able to figure out the whereabouts of the Vicar after he disappeared, never realizing that he and his partner in crime were in the marsh below both suffering the same fate of the deceased engine and her crew.

30 years later, the line in question had become of interest to the Ministry of Defence, and many plans were made to revitalize the line for their own personal use. The Ministry met with the Skarloey Railway, and Rusty was entrusted to pull both the executives of the Skarloey Railway and the Ministry of Defence to inspect the line running towards the now abandoned slate quarry.

Although normally a brave engine, Rusty didn't trust the idea of traveling over Cattle Creek across the Old Iron Bridge. The air always felt colder for some reason, and combined with the disarry of the line, it gave off an vibe of uneasy feeling.

Rusty internally panicked when the Ministry Officials asked to stop on top of the bridge. Although rusting, the bridge had managed to keep its shape, and was still in the same shape as it was 30 years ago. The officials of both companies stepped out to inspect and discuss the possibilities of a deal.

Rusty drowned out the talking of the men, as he turned his attention to the bridge. His driver, Mr. Ivo Hugh, had grown bored of the business chatter of the railway, and decided to turn his attention to the view. Before looking, he noticed Rusty's face, and began wondering if something was bothering him.

"Rusty, I can't help but notice that you have been awfully quiet today. Is something wrong?"

Rusty looked up, surprised that Mr. Hugh had even noticed.

"No, not at all, Mr. Hugh!" Rusty replied with a false smile.

Mr. Hugh wasn't taking no for an answer, and frowned at Rusty.

"Rusty, I can tell that there's something wrong, and that you are lying to me. Tell me what is bothering you! Don't forget that I know you BETTER than any of the other engines save for Skarloey and Rheneas."

Rusty sighed, knowing he was defeated.

"Mr. Hugh, there appears to be something off with this bridge. I can't help but feel as if someone is watching my every move here. Are you sure that this bridge and quarry are abandoned?"

"Rusty, this place closed over 30 years ago, and aside from the occasional teenage prankster from the local villages nearby, no one has been here for that amount of time. The machines are outdated, and the track is rusty, if anything, it could be demolished and turned into something more!"

Rusty listened to Mr. Hugh, knowing he was right, but deep down inside, he still felt that something was off. Mr. Hugh was then called over by Mr. Peter Sam to discuss something with the Ministry.

After an hour of chatting, a handshake was placed with each man, and Mr. Hugh had come back with exciting news for Rusty.

"We did it! The Ministry of Defence will be purchasing the land! They plan to use it as an ammunition dump! This will bring us lots of money to pay for repairs, new coaches, and other things we need! This is going to be great!" Mr. Hugh said as he happily danced around."

Although Rusty was happy to hear that the deal had worked, he was happier to leave the bridge, and to return to the safety of Crovan's Gate. As Mr. Hugh backed him out, Rusty could've sworn that he saw a pale rusty engine staring at him coldly. Rusty blinked to make sure he wasn't seeing things, but opened his eyes to see no one there. Rusty began to feel that there was more to the story of the bridge.

At Crovan's Gate, Rusty was parked in the shed alongside Skarloey, Rheneas, Peter Sam, Millie, and Duncan. Mr. Hugh stated that he had the rest of the day off, and was going home to celebrate the recent deal struck.

Skarloey and Rheneas discontinued their conversation upon spotting Rusty's presence in the shed. Peter Sam, and Millie began asking about the deal with Ministry. Duncan heard about the deal, and groaned. Before long, Duncan began his famous complaint list.

"Och, ANOTHER bloody deal?!" he shouted. "Work, work, work! That's all this railway ever does, is work, work, and more work! If ya ask me, Mr. Hugh, and The Thin Controller can take that extra work and shove it up their bloody arses!"

Normally, the other engines would put up an argument towards Duncan's rant, but they were silent. Duncan expected another round of fighting with them, and was about to open his mouth, before realizing that there was someone standing in front of him.

"Duncan, if you have any complaints about the way that this railway is run, I would advise that you don't RANT about it as if you are in a Scottish factory! Furthermore, you have a passenger train due to depart from Crovan's Gate, which I highly suggest you take before I can think up of a punishment for your foul outburst!" said Mr. Peter Sam.

Duncan was steamed up, and rolled backwards to collect a train of coaches without so much as a whimper!

After Duncan had left, the Thin Controller turned his attention to the other four engines in the shed.

"As you may have heard from Rusty, the Ministry of Defense has agreed to purchase the now abandoned Slate Quarry for their own personal use. This is a very important deal, as it will allow us to have extra money for things such as keeping you, the rails, and the coaches in good working order. The Ministry would like the area to be cleared so that they can begin building their private ammunition dump. As such, there are many tasks to be completed, the Old Iron Bridge is in need of repairs, the track needs to be relaid, and branches need to be cleared. Due to the autumn season beginning to come to a close, I will be assigning some of you to help Rusty and Mr. Hugh clear up. Peter Sam and Millie, you will also inform Sir Handel and Duncan that they are to help out with this. We shall begin this next week, so for the rest of this week, please focus on your regular jobs. I shall be returning to my office now."

The Thin Controller turned on his heel and walked away humming to himself.

Rusty, realizing that he wasn't alone, decided to question Skarloey and Rheneas on the Old Iron Bridge.

"Skarloey, may I ask you something about the early days of the Railway?"

Skarloey was intrigued, he and Rheneas always enjoyed discussing the early days of the Railway when it was just them running the line.

"Of course Rusty, you can always ask me anything! What's on your mind young engine?"

Rusty took a deep breath.

"It's about the Old Iron Bridge that runs over Cattle Creek. There's something off about it, the air gets cold for some reason, and I swear I saw the shape of a pale rusty engine staring coldly at me. When I blinked my eyes, she disappeared!"

Skarloey and Rheneas' faces went pale.

Peter Sam spoke up.

"Is there something you aren't telling us you two?"

Silence followed, and the silence was broken when Rheneas spoke up.

"Back in the Great Depression, only Skarloey and I ran the line. There was an additional engine, she had no name, nor a number. She was younger than us, but looked older than us due to her poor condition. She only worked in the Slate Mines, and would travel from there each day to one of the stations to drop off slate cars for our goods trains."

Rusty, Peter Sam, and Millie looked on with intrigue and interest, leading Rheneas to continue with his story.

"One day, there were no slate deliveries. Feeling that something had happened, The Owner sent Skarloey out there with the Breakdown Crane to investigate. When Skarloey got to the bridge, he noticed something was wrong with the situation."

Rheneas stopped his story, and looked over at Skarloey. He knew that Skarloey was well-versed in what had happened next.

"I looked over at the side of me, and noticed that there was a big hole in the bridge. What I saw down there, was something that no engine and his crew should ever have to see..."


	2. Chapter 2

"That poor unnamed tank engine and her crew were lost to the marsh, the only hint of their fate being her cab sticking out. By that time, the Slate Quarry had decided to leave her where she was, it was pointless, they said, to have to fish out the remains of an engine that was already set to be scrapped. The men, they determined, were too sunken in for a rescue, and deliverance to their families for a proper burial. The men's families tried to argue for their remains, but the Slate Quarry refused. The Quarry was already struggling to pay their employees. Two weeks later, the quarry had been abandoned entirely, and the rails were left be."

Skarloey paused, a pained expression on his face, he had a difficult time retelling the story to the others, mainly due to the fact that he could never wrap his mind around what the engine and her crew went through during the horrid ordeal in the marsh.

"After that, the line was relatively quiet for the most part. The only ones that would actually go on that line would be teenagers from the local nearby villages looking for a bit of fun in the abandoned slate quarry. Life went back to normal for Rheneas and I, and aside from the occasional mention of her, we went about our work. Then, roughly a year later, I overheard that many villagers had claimed to hear the sound of an engine puffing, and whistling fit to burst. Then it would stop as soon as it started, it would stop. Many people tried to see what had happened, but came to find and empty, rusty, and broken bridge. To this day, many claim to have seen a pale figure of a rusty engine, and that sometimes it will give a piercing glare towards them before disappearing."

Skarloey finished his story, and silence fell amongst the engines.

Millie was the one who broke the silence.

"Is that why the Old Iron Bridge is forbidden now? Because of that horrid accident? Sacre bleu..."

Skarloey had been rendered speechless from the story, so Rheneas had taken over for the last bits of the history.

"Yes Millie, that's why. Now that we are to work there again, do be careful. We've already lost a friend that fateful day, and we hope that we don't lose you either."

The engines went silent for the rest of the day. Unbeknowest to them, Cinder had been nearby at the platform, and had overheard the entire story. The next engine he told was Scott, and Scott told Liz. Liz told Ryan, Ryan told Duck, and eventually every engine on the Island knew about the horrid story of the Old Iron Bridge. Eventually, Duncan was the last engine to find out about the Old Iron Bridge from James.

"Och, a pathetic ghost story? Neil was right James, you're ghost stories are about as weak and pathetic as a bloody cup of Sanka first thing in the morning! You could bloody do better if you want to scare me!"

James scrunched his face up, and became as red and his paintwork. He furiously stormed out of the station with his train without saying a single word. He briefly glared at Duncan as he departed.

While Duncan was taking care of the passengers, Rusty, Millie, Peter Sam, and Sir Handel were taking care of the leaves and branches that were covering the line leading to the Abandoned Slate Quarry. The job was rather mundane, as the workmen would be taking care of most of the pulling of branches, and loading them up onto the trucks, ready to go. The engines often found themselves sitting around, waiting for their loads to be cleared for disposal.

Rusty, and Peter Sam both found themselves working together quite often, and would strike up a conversation or two to make time go by. One of these, came about from Skarloey's story.

"So you say that Old Iron Bridge running over Cattle Creek seems to have something more than what Skarloey and Rheneas told us?"

"Yes, indeed Peter Sam. When I was up there, it felt as if everything had gotten colder all of a sudden! As if someone else was there besides me, Mr. Hugh, the Thin Controller, and the Ministry of Defense."

"I'm sure that's been explained now that their story has been told, Rusty."

"Actually, Peter Sam, there was one element that I didn't tell them."

"What was that?"

"After we backed out of the bridge when the deal was made, I couldn't help but notice that there might've been someone or perhaps, some engine on the bridge as I left. She looked rusty, and broken, and she stared at me with flashing red eyes. When I blinked to make sure I wasn't seeing things, she vanished!"

A dead silence came from both engines, which was soon broken when Mr. Hugh approached both engines.

"The men have finished up here, so they will be taking lunch. In the meantime, Rusty, you will help Peter Sam up with his load to the Water Tower, his crew mentioned that they would need to fill up the tank. Peter Sam, you will take these loads to be disposed of, and then return with the empties to finish the job. Alright, off to work you two!"

A short journey to the water tower was silent, as Peter Sam was thirsty for water, and Rusty was still shaken up on the engine that he spotted last week.

When the duo arrived at the Water Tower, Rusty honked his horn, and moved backwards towards the next worksite. Peter Sam's crew jumped out and placed the water pump onto Peter Sam, filling him up with water. While his crew made small talk on their lives, they were distracted from the loose coupling on the trucks. The coupling was rusty and old, but his crew never bothered to check it.

The trucks were already bored from having sat around all day, and seeing an opportunity, used their wheels to break away from Peter Sam. They succeeded, and rolled off laughing, as Peter Sam and his crew turned back in horror.

The trucks kept rolling on, and completely ignored a sign that marked Cattle Creek. Still rolling, the trucks eventually hit a snag in the rails, and with no ways to keep from falling, plunged into the creek below.

Peter Sam and his crew gave chase, but by the time they made it over the bridge, and stopping before the snag in the rails, it was too late. The trucks were already sunken in.

Peter Sam's driver went red in the face with embarrassment upon looking down. He knew that they were all going to get a thorough tongue-lashing from Mr. Peter Sam and the Owner about what had happened.

"This was out fault, we should've checked the couplings before using those trucks."

The fireman nodded, also red with embarrassment. "Mr. Peter Sam, and the Owner are going to kill us! We better go get a crane to fish those trucks out."

Later that evening, the trucks had been recovered, but the incident didn't leave Mr. Peter Sam too happy, as guessed by Peter Sam's driver.

"The coupling may have been old, but that is still not a good excuse for not checking it to make sure nothing would happen! I'm very disappointed in you three, and I cannot trust for the time being on this important job. Until further notice, you will be working here in the yards until The Owner feels you are ready to work again! Good night!"

Mr. Peter Sam turned on his heel and began to walk away.

Duncan who was next to Peter Sam, was taking a delight out of Peter Sam's punishment. He wouldn't stop grinning about it, and kept teasing him about it.

Mr. Peter Sam was almost to the platform when he overheard Duncan's laughter. He then turned around.

"Since you take such great pleasure from your fellow engine's dilemma's, YOU will do Peter Sam's work instead!"

Duncan went as red as a beet, and Mr. Peter Sam turned to finish his walk. This time Millie and Sir Handel were the ones to laugh at Duncan.

Duncan scoffed while uttering some colorful words under his breath about what he had gotten himself into this time.


	3. Chapter 3

"That poor unnamed tank engine and her crew were lost to the marsh, the only hint of their fate being her cab sticking out. By that time, the Slate Quarry had decided to leave her where she was, it was pointless, they said, to have to fish out the remains of an engine that was already set to be scrapped. The men, they determined, were too sunken in for a rescue, and deliverance to their families for a proper burial. The men's families tried to argue for their remains, but the Slate Quarry refused. The Quarry was already struggling to pay their employees. Two weeks later, the quarry had been abandoned entirely, and the rails were left."

Skarloey paused, a pained expression on his face, he had a difficult time retelling the story to the others, mainly due to the fact that he could never wrap his mind around what the engine and her crew went through during the horrid ordeal in the marsh.

"After that, the line was relatively quiet for the most part. The only ones that would actually go on that line would be teenagers from the local nearby villages looking for a bit of fun in the abandoned slate quarry. Life went back to normal for Rheneas and me, and aside from the occasional mention of her, we went about our work. Then, roughly a year later, I overheard that many villagers had claimed to hear the sound of an engine puffing, and whistling fit to burst. Then it would stop as soon as it started, it would stop. Many people tried to see what had happened but came to find an empty, rusty, and a broken bridge. To this day, many claim to have seen a pale figure of a rusty engine, and that sometimes it will give a piercing glare towards them before disappearing."

Skarloey finished his story, and silence fell amongst the engines.

Millie was the one who broke the silence.

"Is that why the Old Iron Bridge is forbidden now? Because of that horrid accident? Sacre bleu..."

Skarloey had been rendered speechless from the story, so Rheneas had taken over for the last bits of the history.

"Yes Millie, that's why. Now that we are to work there again, do be careful. We've already lost a friend that fateful day, and we hope that we don't lose you either."

The engines went silent for the rest of the day. Unbeknownst to them, Cinder had been nearby at the platform and had overheard the entire story. The next engine he told was Scott, and Scott told Liz. Liz told Ryan, Ryan told Duck, and eventually, every engine on the Island knew about the horrid story of the Old Iron Bridge. Eventually, Duncan was the last engine to find out about the Old Iron Bridge from James.

"Och, a pathetic ghost story? Neil was right James, you're ghost stories are about as weak and pathetic as a bloody cup of Sanka first thing in the morning! You could bloody do better if you want to scare me!"

James scrunched his face up and became as red and his paintwork. He furiously stormed out of the station with his train without saying a single word. He briefly glared at Duncan as he departed.


	4. Chapter 4

While Duncan was taking care of the passengers, Rusty, Millie, Peter Sam, and Sir Handel were taking care of the leaves and branches that were covering the line leading to the Abandoned Slate Quarry. The job was rather mundane, as the workmen would be taking care of most of the pulling of branches, and loading them up onto the trucks, ready to go. The engines often found themselves sitting around, waiting for their loads to be cleared for disposal.

Rusty, and Peter Sam both found themselves working together quite often, and would strike up a conversation or two to make time go by. One of these came about from Skarloey's story.

"So you say that Old Iron Bridge running over Cattle Creek seems to have something more than what Skarloey and Rheneas told us?"

"Yes, indeed Peter Sam. When I was up there, it felt as if everything had gotten colder all of a sudden! As if someone else was there beside me, Mr. Hugh, the Thin Controller, and the Ministry of Defense."

"I'm sure that's been explained now that their story has been told, Rusty."

"Actually, Peter Sam, there was one element that I didn't tell them."

"What was that?"

"After we backed out of the bridge when the deal was made, I couldn't help but notice that there might've been someone or perhaps, some engine on the bridge as I left. She looked rusty and broken, and she stared at me with flashing red eyes. When I blinked to make sure I wasn't seeing things, she vanished!"

Dead silence came from both engines, which was soon broken when Mr. Hugh approached both engines.

"The men have finished up here, so they will be taking lunch. In the meantime, Rusty, you will help Peter Sam up with his load to the Water Tower, his crew mentioned that they would need to fill up the tank. Peter Sam, you will take these loads to be disposed of, and then return with the empties to finish the job. Alright, off to work you two!"

A short journey to the water tower was silent, as Peter Sam was thirsty for water, and Rusty was still shaken up on the engine that he spotted last week.

When the duo arrived at the Water Tower, Rusty honked his horn and moved back towards the next worksite. Peter Sam's crew jumped out and placed the water pump onto Peter Sam, filling him up with water. While his crew made small talk on their lives, they were distracted from the loose coupling on the trucks. The coupling was rusty and old, but his crew never bothered to check it.

The trucks were already bored from having sat around all day, and seeing an opportunity, used their wheels to break away from Peter Sam. They succeeded and rolled off laughing, as Peter Sam and his crew turned back in horror.

The trucks kept rolling on, and completely ignored a sign that marked Cattle Creek. Still rolling, the trucks eventually hit a snag in the rails, and with no ways to keep from falling, plunged into the creek below.

Peter Sam and his crew gave chase, but by the time they made it over the bridge and stopping before the snag in the rails, it was too late. The trucks were already sunken in.

Peter Sam's driver went red in the face with embarrassment upon looking down. He knew that they were all going to get a thorough tongue-lashing from Mr. Peter Sam and the Owner about what had happened.

"This was our fault, we should've checked the couplings before using those trucks."

The fireman nodded, also red with embarrassment. "Mr. Peter Sam and the Owner are going to kill us! We better go get a crane to fish those trucks out."

Later that evening, the trucks had been recovered, but the incident didn't leave Mr. Peter Sam too happy, as guessed correctly by Peter Sam's driver.

"The coupling may have been old, but that is still not a good excuse for not checking it to make sure nothing would happen! I'm very disappointed in you three, and I cannot trust you for the time being on this important job. Until further notice, you will be working here in the yards until The Owner feels you are ready to work again! Good night!"

Mr. Peter Sam turned on his heel and began to walk away.

Duncan who was next to Peter Sam was taking a delight out of Peter Sam's punishment. He wouldn't stop grinning about it and kept teasing him about it.

Mr. Peter Sam was almost to the platform when he overheard Duncan's laughter. He then turned around.

"Since you take such great pleasure from your fellow engine's dilemma's, YOU will do Peter Sam's work instead!"

Duncan went as red as a beet, and Mr. Peter Sam turned to finish his walk. This time Millie and Sir Handel were the ones to laugh at Duncan.

Duncan scoffed while uttering some rather colorful words under his breath about what he had gotten himself into this time.


	5. Finale

Despite his dilemma, Duncan wouldn't quit teasing Peter Sam about the incident at Cattle Creek, and spent the entire night cracking jokes.

Rusty, having enough the next morning, decided that he would tell Duncan the story behind the Old Iron Bridge.

Duncan rolled his eyes at Rusty upon the completion of the story.

"That is nothing but a stupid urban legend. Everyone knows there's no such things as ghosts! Perhaps that new fuels they gave you has made you insane."

Rusty shot a cold look towards Duncan. Before he could get another word in towards Duncan, the Scottish engine had vanished, running off to go and do work.

Rusty's crew had finished their morning coffee, and happened to glance over at Rusty. They could see that the little diesel was greatly upset, and considering that it was Duncan, decided that the Scottish engine deserved a lesson for his actions and harassment.

They decided to talk it over with Peter Sam's crew during the clean-up. Working together during their lunch break, the four men came up with a scheme to get back at Duncan.

"We'll do it tonight, that'll teach him to mess with our engines!"

"Better yet, why not get Duncan's crew in on this too?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Believe me, ANYBODY that works with that factory engine knows that he's ALWAYS causing trouble to others, no doubt about that!"

"Very well, then."

The plan was formulated, and upon finding Duncan's crew, the plan was decided to be put into action later that evening.

Autumn was coming to an end on Sodor, and Winter was beginning to take its course. In areas such as Cattle Creek, fog would become a normal sight to see, often rising up from murky swamps below. Often, this was considered a ghastly sight by locals within the villages nearby.

The plan made by each engine's crew worked almost perfectly, as the fog was quite thick, and save for lights diffusing the fog, barely anything could be seen.

It had been a month since the bridge had been finished, repaired back to its original state, and with stronger iron bars in order to prevent further accidents from happening. The work had moved onto the quarry where old machinery were being taken down to leave space for the Ministry of Defense to place in their equipment.

Duncan was assigned to pull away the equipment, but was delayed until later that evening as the machines needed were malfunctioning, and needed repair. It wasn't until sunset that the old machines were taken apart and separated on flatbeds, in order to be ready for the Standard Gauge engines on the North Western Railway to take away to Mainland Scrapyards.

Of course, being Duncan, he wasn't too happy about this.

"Come on, come on! If we don't hurry up, Millie's going to take my favorite place in the shed, again! I'm not willing to deal with Sir Handel's snoring again!"

Duncan's crew rolled their eyes, while also hiding a sly smirk on their faces.

"You know the rules! The Thin Controller and Mr. Hugh wish for these to be disposed of properly for the scrapyards."

Duncan sighed, knowing he was defeated. He groaned even more.

Finally, the workmen finished loading up the scrap, and hopped aboard the coaches Rusty was waiting with. The little diesel left first, and after he departed the sun had set, leaving darkness with the only light being those of Duncan's lights, and the Full Moon above.

When secured, Duncan and his crew set off, blowing his whistle to let everyone around know they were leaving. Not too far away from the quarry, the fog began to roll, thick as always. Duncan didn't care, for he was too concerned about returning to the shed at Crovan's Gate in order to secure his spot.

A sudden stop happened within the middle of the Old Iron Bridge. Duncan grew awfully quiet. Although he claimed that Rusty's story about the bridge was a load of cow manure, he himself was secretly scared.

His fears didn't stop when he heard the sound of something being thrown into the swamp below.

His face grew pale. "It's the ghost! Take me back, take me back please!"

Duncan's crew secretly snickered, they knew they had ended Duncan's harassment once and for all, or so they thought.

The fireman was the first to look up. His eyes widened significantly in fear, he then tapped the driver's shoulders. The driver's eyes widened as well, and both men ended up holding each other in fright from the cab.

Within the fog appeared the shape of a rusty old engine, complete with two crew members inside. The engine began whistling fit to burst as loudly as she could. Both her and her crews eyes flashed red, and both began charging at Duncan and his crew.

Duncan and his crew screamed bloody murder, and all three shut their eyes, crying in fear of meeting their maker on the Old Iron Bridge.

A few seconds later, the men opened their eyes. There was no one there, and the fog had mysteriously vanished, leaving a clear night of just a pale full moon in the night sky.

Ducan's driver started him up again, and the three remained as silent as church mice from then on.

The other engines never heard what had happened in Cattle Creek that night, but all that they knew was that Duncan was silent for two straight months, not saying a word to anybody. The only hints they ever got were if Duncan would begin screaming bloody murder in his sleep every so often.

The Thin Controller is often sitting in his office wondering what happened to Duncan. After all, to the Thin Controller, a silent and hardworking Duncan usually leaves him to believe that something had crawled into his smokebox.

"I wonder if he's seen a ghost?" he said.


End file.
